Banditos took us down, but not out...

by Michelle

I am finally relaxed. My wedding dress that I so lovingly lugged on board with me in it´s own box has served it´s purpose and hangs exhausted and dirty in the villa´s master closet. My expensive camera and laptop that I didn´t risk checking with my luggage have been stolen. Sudden, silent, bold intruders snatched our gizmo's and gadgets deftly and disappeared, leaving the last five members of our wedding party (Dave, me, Heather, Rick and Paul) shaken, creeped out and feeling like vulnerable gringos.
Spookily as I fitfully slept off a heavy late night dinner, I had dreamed of machetes and Ticos. That coupled with being woken by Paul to tell us we´d just been brazenly robbed, left me looking over my shoulder & straining my ears for strange sounds.
I´m in Costa Rica, all the sounds are strange here! Howling monkeys and foot long crickets (Rick says she´d make a good fisherman),and clicking land crabs. It´s a jungle out there. Sleepless, but determined, Rick and Heather have headed to Liberia to drop Paul off at the airport. Dave locked up the villa and laid down to try and get a few lost hours of sleep back. I needed sleep too, but felt too shaken and vulnerable in our paradise villa to close my eyes.
This is not how I wanted to spend my/our remaining days in Samara. I read the 23 Psalm and let it´s familiar words remind me of my peace. Risking looking like a lunatic to my new husband, my desire to express my fear and engage my faith win out and I took a walk around the villa, praying at each window and door and timidly anointing each one with my finger dipped in oil, in the sign of the cross. I know that sounds medieval but it felt very therapeutic.
I came back inside surprisingly calmed. The crosses easily seen in the corner of each window. If the bastards come back they´ll see who else they´re up against.
The pool is still refreshing, the birds exuberant songs are like exotic music and the villa resumes the golden glow of luxury and retains the magic of our wedding.
We´ll shake this off our feet like sand from the beach and drink up and eat up and party up this blessed adventure unhindered and unscathed. We wondered how we were gonna fit all our stuff into the rental car anyways!
Cheers from Samara.

PS by Rick.
After Michele had done her oil and garlic crosses on each window she retired for a nap. Dave awoke and went out to have a swim in the pool and noticed something on the window. Then he noticed something on ALL the windows as he walked around the villa. He thought we´d been marked with bandito jou jou for further retribution and got all excited again and went and woke up Michele to tell her.